I've set out to sea, so please bear with me.
Cough cough... Why does that sound so weird? Whatever, doesn't matter.
Shaking his head to clear away these random thoughts, Kyle walked into the ship's cabin and started rummaging through everything.
These pirates had absolutely terrible taste—most of their clothes reeked of sweat and blood. He finally managed to dig out a set of black shirt and pants from a relatively clean chest. The fabric was rough and way too big, but it beat his current outfit of leaves and animal hide sewn together like some "savage costume."
After changing clothes, Kyle found a reasonably smooth piece of copper to use as a mirror.
The reflection showed a young man with black hair and golden eyes. His skin had a healthy tan from prolonged sun exposure, with sharp, defined features. Though his face still carried a hint of youthful innocence, his eyes were remarkably bright.
Those golden pupils especially seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly glow in the dim cabin light.
"Hah, never thought I'd be good-looking enough to coast on my looks in this lifetime." Kyle smugly brushed his bangs aside, completely satisfied with how handsome his new body turned out to be.
"What a shame—back in my previous life, I would've been at least campus heartthrob material, maybe even internet famous."
Done admiring himself, Kyle returned to the deck. Mimicking what he remembered from the pirates, he made a show of adjusting the sails, then grabbed the helm.
"Alright then, let's go!" Kyle shouted enthusiastically, feeling like a man about to conquer the seven seas.
And then... nothing happened.
An hour later, the pirate ship was still spinning in circles.
Two hours later, Kyle was drenched in sweat, and the ship seemed... even closer to the deserted island?
"Come on, how the hell do you actually steer this thing?!" Kyle frantically scratched his head, his handsome face flushed red with embarrassment.
In his previous life, he'd been just an ordinary guy who'd been on boats a few times at most. Forget sailing—he could barely swim at a passing level.
He'd picked up plenty of theoretical knowledge from movies and shows: catch wind with the sails, zigzag against headwinds, keep the helm steady... But actually doing it? This was nothing like driving a car!
"I remember when Luffy and his crew set sail, it didn't seem this hard, right? Before Nami joined, how did they even sail?" Kyle fell into deep self-doubt.
He tried using his Tremor-Tremor Fruit powers, thinking he could push the ship with shockwaves. The result? "BOOM!" A tremor hit the ocean surface, splashing up massive waves that drenched him, instantly making him feel weak. The ship rocked briefly, then... got pushed backward by the recoil.
"..." Kyle wiped seawater from his face, staring speechlessly at the sky.
Fine, looks like he'd have to go with the flow. He gave up struggling and let the pirate ship drift aimlessly across the vast ocean like a helpless leaf.
Days passed. Kyle went from initial panic to resignation to complete numbness. The ship's fresh water and food supplies dwindled at an alarming rate.
Every day, he alternated between spacing out and practicing his fruit powers while staring at the sea, praying for heaven's mercy to drift him somewhere with people.
"At this rate, I'll probably become the first pirate in the One Piece world to starve to death at sea because he couldn't sail. Talk about embarrassing all transmigrators." Kyle lay sprawled on the deck, wanting to cry. He even started missing those weird-tasting grilled fish from the island.
Just as Kyle was getting dizzy from hunger and his mind began to wander, a tiny black dot finally appeared on the distant horizon.
"Land! It's land!" Kyle shot up from the deck like a rocket. He was so excited he almost considered using shockwaves to speed himself up, but reason told him to save his energy.
Fortunately, the current seemed to be on his side. After half a day, the island's outline became increasingly clear. It looked quite prosperous, with a harbor at the shore and plenty of buildings.
Kyle was moved to tears with joy. Throwing caution to the wind about sailing techniques, he wildly spun the helm, desperately trying to steer toward the dock.
His "efforts" immediately caused chaos at the port. Workers loading cargo on the shore screamed and scattered, creating a symphony of curses and shouts. Several innocent small boats got smashed to pieces by his rampaging pirate ship.
Kyle was sweating buckets but didn't care about dignity anymore—he just wanted this damn ship to stop.
Finally, with a deep, muffled "THUD," the bow wedged firmly into a thick wooden post at the dock. The entire ship shuddered violently before getting completely stuck. Perfect.
"Phew, finally made it." Kyle didn't care about the ship's sorry state or the strange looks from people around him. He leaped onto the dock, and the feeling of solid ground under his feet almost made him want to kneel and kiss the earth.
He couldn't wait to flag down a passerby, trying to make his expression look friendly:
"Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where this is? And what time is it?"
The passerby was startled by Kyle's disheveled, several-days-hungry appearance, but still answered: "This is the harbor outside Doug Town. It's afternoon."
"Doug Town?" Kyle drew a complete blank—never heard of that name!
He quickly followed up: "Well... how's the Pirate King doing? What about the Naval Hero? And have you heard of Straw Hat?"
Hearing this, the passerby looked Kyle up and down like he was looking at a crazy person.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Never heard of them. Kid, are you delirious from hunger?"
With that, he waved dismissively as if shooing away something dirty and quickly walked away.
"Hey, wait up! I meant what year of the Sea Circle Calendar it is, not morning or afternoon!"
"Huh?" Kyle was stunned. How could nobody know about the famous Pirate King or Naval Hero?
Even if Straw Hat Luffy hadn't made a name for himself yet, there should be some word about him, right?
Did he transmigrate too early or too late? Or was Doug Town really so remote that it was completely cut off from the world?
A thick cloud of confusion settled over him as Kyle walked somewhat aimlessly through the town streets.
The town was quite bustling, with people coming and going, constant vendor calls, and a vibrant atmosphere.
Kyle was wondering if the few scattered berries he'd scrounged from the pirate ship would be enough for a decent meal when his stomach cooperatively let out a loud protest.
Just as he was about to find a tavern to gather more information, a violent explosion suddenly erupted in the distance!
"BOOM!"
This was followed by terrified screams and chaotic running.
"Pirates! It's the Black Shark Pirates! They're back to raid again!"
"Run for your lives!"
Kyle snapped his head up to see thick smoke and flames shooting into the sky from the direction of the harbor.
He could vaguely make out a pirate ship flying a shark skull flag, recklessly bombarding the shore buildings with its cannons!
"Great, haven't even eaten yet, and trouble comes knocking." Kyle's mouth twitched, but those golden pupils quietly flashed with barely noticeable excitement.
Perfect—let me test out all the frustration I've been bottling up! And maybe "borrow" some meal money while I'm at it.